


Magic Mirror

by nightshade002



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Demons, Dragons, Gen, M/M, Minor Character Death, Shapeshifters - Freeform, Torture, and by everyone i mean oikawa and his mom, everyone likes to dramatically walk out of doors, iwaizumi has lowkey been suffering for the past five years, like nothing graphic but still there, oikawa's mom is kinda a dick, update: oikawa's mom is a big dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2018-07-25 15:59:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 18,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7538917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightshade002/pseuds/nightshade002
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oikawa is 7 when he finds the magic mirror and the person inside. He asks for Oikawa's help, as long as Oikawa can keep it a secret.</p><p>Iwaizumi has been stuck in the mirror for five years, locked in there by Oikawa's mother. All he wants to do at this point is get out. And possibly get a little bit of revenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Oikawa was only 7 when he found the mirror. He was looking for an old book of spells for his mom in their storage room. Of course, when he saw something shiny he just had to investigate. In the very back of the room, behind boxes and mostly covered with a blanket, there was a large mirror. Oikawa sneezed from the cloud of dust that appeared when he pulled the blanket off. It was about twice his height and looked expensive. The border was gold and intricately swirled and his reflection was crystal clear. He knew he shouldn’t touch it, but that just made him want to more. After glancing at the door to make sure his mom wasn’t there, he reached out and brushed his fingers over the gold.

He fell back, not expecting the burst of energy from the mirror. He looked up at it just as the surface rippled. Instead of his own reflection, there was an older boy, maybe a teenager. He looked really angry, standing tall, eyes flashing red, and a scowl on his face. He looked down at Oikawa, who flinched when he glared at him. “Who the hell are you?”

Oikawa whimpered and scooted away. There were tears welling in his eyes. The older boy seemed to notice that Oikawa was just a kid and crouched down to his level, eyes turning green, features softening and becoming more welcoming. “Shit, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry,” he said.

“You look scary,” Oikawa said quietly. The boy in the mirror glanced down at himself in surprize, as if he wasn’t aware that he was really intimidating at all. Instantly, he was a boy about the same age as Oikawa.

“Is this better?” he asked. Oikawa nodded, wiping the unshed tears out of his eyes. “I’m Iwaizumi. Who are you?”

Oikawa hesitated. His mom always told him not to tell his name to strangers. But if he was given a name first, wasn’t it polite to respond? “I’m Oikawa.”

Iwaizumi got a scary look on his face again, eyes briefly flashing red again. “Oikawa? Your mom’s name wouldn’t happen to be Oikawa Yuki, would it?” Oikawa’s eyes widened in astonishment and he nodded. “That’s what I thought. I think you can help me.”

“Help you how?”

“Well, her magic can help me get out of this mirror. Since she’s your mom, you should have the same magic in you,” Iwaizumi explained.

“Tooru? Do you need help finding the book?” Oikawa’s mom called. It was barely noticeable, but Iwaizumi flinched at the sound of her voice. 

“No, mom! I got it. It just took a while to find,” Oikawa called back. He turned back to Iwaizumi. “I gotta go.”

Iwaizumi put his hand on the glass of the mirror on his side. “Will you help me? If you want to think about it for a bit, that’s okay.”

Oikawa nodded, grabbing the book. “I’ll think about it and come back later.”

Iwaizumi’s image was starting to fade and Oikawa could faintly see his reflection again. “And please don’t tell your mom.”

Oikawa nodded again, “Got it. Bye Iwa-chan.” Iwaizumi only had time to make a face at the nickname before his image faded completely and Oikawa’s reflection was the only thing left in the mirror. He threw the blanket back over it and picked up the book he had found before the mirror.

“Goodness, Tooru, I thought you got lost in there,” his mom commented when he finally came out with the book.

“Sorry mom,” he apologized. “There were just a lot of boxes to look through before I found it.” 

“That’s alright, sweetie,” she smiled. Oikawa breathed a sigh of relief that she believed him. He was pretty sure it was his first time lying to his mother. She took the book from him and went to her work table. “Do you want to help me for a bit?”

Oikawa’s eyes lit up. It wasn’t often that his mom let him help her. “Really? I can?”

His mom nodded. “It’s a simple protection spell on the house, so you can help. After all, you’ll need to start learning at some point.” Oikawa beamed and pulled up a stool next to his mom.

\--

Iwaizumi couldn’t believe his luck. Five years stuck in this mirror and he finally had a way out. Of course, the kid was too young, so he couldn’t do anything right away. Iwaizumi would have to be patient and put up with the whiny kid until he could actually break the confinement spell his mother put on this mirror. Then he’d finally be free. He longed to stretch out his legs in an open field, and exact no small amount of revenge on Oikawa Yuki. Whether that would be through her son or not remained to be seen.

The only real problem with his plan would be keeping Yuki from finding out for so long. Iwaizumi absolutely did not trust her son to keep things from her. He seemed too well behaved to actually lie to anyone. And he’d have to keep a secret for a few years. Iwaizumi sighed. This was going to be a _very long_ few years.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, guess who's not dead. There will probably be another chapter soon because I'm finally getting a bit less busy.

He couldn’t see anything. Couldn’t tell which way was up or down, left or right. He felt completely still and yet as though he was falling. The strange sensations made him nauseous. It felt as if there were walls closing in on him, but he wasn’t entirely sure he had a body for anything to close in on.

He tried using his magic to at least lessen the tension and the slight twinge of pain in his arm. All that happened was the suffocating feeling intensifying. If he even thought about using his magic it got worse. Eventually he gave up and let everything overwhelm him. It didn’t make him feel better by any means, but he wasn’t making anything worse.

After he accepted whatever was happening to him, things got much easier to handle, even though it was too much. He started making a mental list of everything he was feeling. The disorientation, nausea, pressure, blindness, pain in his arm. It all felt like a strange dream, or an out of body experience. The only difference between his normal lucid dreaming and this was that, even though he was completely aware of everything, he couldn’t change anything.

Unsure of how long he had been in the strange almost nothingness, he welcomed the sight of a small spec of light in what he assumed was the distance. It grew brighter and larger, slightly bigger than himself. He had to cover his eyes because of the stark contrast of light against his previously dark world.

As soon as his eyes adjusted, he took inventory of what he could actually see. Below the knee of his pants, they were almost in shreds, most pieces just barely hanging on. There was mud on his boots and maybe a little blood, but he couldn’t be sure. There was a relatively new scar on his left arm, running the length of his entire upper arm. He was missing his jacket and his shirt wasn’t in much better condition than his pants. Even though he could see his body, it felt as though it wasn’t there.

Finally, he looked up at the light. A strict, angry looking woman glared back at him. She was behind a window? No. No, no no. No, he recognized this spell. He didn’t know anyone powerful enough to pull it off by themselves, but he was fairly certain this woman did it. On him. Which means... that wasn’t a window, it was a mirror. It wasn’t even technically a mirror, but he never paid enough attention learning spells like this to learn all the technicalities of it. He knew one thing for sure though. Whoever this woman was, she was his captor.

“Iwaizumi Hajime?” she asked sharply. He could do nothing but nod dumbly. “You worked with my husband. I have a few questions about what happened.”

\--

Two weeks after he first found him, Oikawa finally found time to get back to Iwaizumi. He wasn’t technically allowed in the storage room without permission, so he had to think of a way to sneak past his mom. An opportunity presented itself when his mom had to make a trip to the town nearby. He always had to stay in the house whenever she went anywhere, no matter how much he begged her to take him with. She always gave the same excuse, something about ‘it’s not safe’ and ‘bad people’. Oikawa never really paid attention, he just pouted about how he wouldn’t be able to go with.

“I’m not sure whether I should be impressed or suspicious that you’re putting up much less of a fight than usual,” his mom joked. Oikawa’s eyes widened just barely, worried for a split second that she caught on.

“You always say no anyway,” he pouted, crossing his arms.

She smiled and ruffled his hair, “That’s true. Now remember, I can get back in myself, so don’t-”

“Open the door for anyone, even if it sounds like you.” Oikawa finished. “I know, mom, it’s not the first time you’ve gone into the town.”

“I just hate leaving you alone,” his mom sighed.

“I could always go with you,” he suggested, eyes shining at the thought of being able to really get out of the house. It didn’t count when he went to play in the yard, always close enough to see the house.

“When you’re older, I promise.” She checked one last time to make sure she had everything she needed. “I’ll be back in a few days. I love you,” she said, hugging him.

“Love you too.”

As soon as his mom was out the door, Oikawa raced to the window to make sure his mom was completely gone before he practically ran to the storage room. Standing in front of the mirror, he realized he didn’t actually know what he did last time to make Iwa-chan appear. He touched the glass part of the mirror and jerked his hand back when he felt a shock run through him. He braced himself against the rush of magic so it didn’t knock him over again.

Once again, the image of himself in the mirror rippled and changed. Iwaizumi looked older again, but once he saw who it was, he was instantly younger again.

“You’re back,” he said almost surprised.

“I said I would be,” Oikawa said. 

Iwaizumi shook his head. “I’ve just had problems before with people not doing what they said they would.”

“Well, I always do what I say I will,” Oikawa said brightly. “And I’m going to help you.”

“You know you’re going to have to lie to your mom, right?”

Oikawa looked slightly uncomfortable with that, but he nodded determinately. He never liked lying to his mom, but she _had_ always told him to help other people. So if he had to lie a little then it was okay.

“There’s no backing out later.”

“I know. I won’t. I’m going to help you.”

Iwaizumi smiled almost scarily. Oikawa had a feeling that if Iwaizumi still looked older it would have been really scary. It almost made him want to back out, but he just said he wouldn’t. He took a deep breath.

“So what do I need to do?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also if you couldn't tell, the first part is a flashback of sorts.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I looked earlier to see how long it's been since I updated and I guess it's been over a month sorry bout that.

_Iwaizumi struggled for breath, panting from running more than he was used to. He tried teleporting again, but it was no use. His magic still wasn’t working right. He would have sighed if he had the breath to spare, but as it was, he rolled his shoulders and kept running. There was a bright flash of white light and he shielded his eyes so nothing permanent happened to his sight. He wasn’t quite fast enough to prevent himself from becoming temporarily blinded, so he had to slow his pace to avoid falling on his face. A hand fell on his shoulder and slid down to his elbow, grazing over the gash in his arm from one of the creature's talons. He hissed in pain and the only thing that kept him from pulling away was the familiar voice that accompanied the hand pulling him forward._

_“Come on Iwa, you gotta keep moving. We gotta get out of here.” Matsukawa didn’t seem out of breath at all and Iwaizumi silently cursed him for that, his own lungs burning._

_“I can’t see, Mattsun,” Iwaizumi said trying to quicken his pace again._

_“Here,” Matsukawa put his hand over Iwaizumi’s eyes. Iwaizumi felt the slight sting of someone else’s magic, not necessarily compatible with his own. “What happened to your magic?”_

_Matsukawa removed his hand from Iwaizumi’s eyes, but kept his other hand on his elbow concentrating his magic on healing the gash. Iwaizumi tried to bat his hand away. “Stop that. I’m fine. Save your energy.”_

_Matsukawa only gripped on tighter. “If I don’t, who will?”_

_Iwaizumi rolled his eyes but didn’t keep arguing._

_“So anyway what happened that you can’t use your magic at all? I know none of us can teleport but you should be able to at least do basic things like healing and stamina.”_

_“No idea what happened,” Iwaizumi panted. “Might be related to whatever got my arm.”_

_“Doesn’t look cursed or spelled.” Matsukawa observed. “Doesn’t matter. We need to get you out of here.”_

_“I have a sword, I can still fight.” Iwaizumi protested._

_“You won’t last ten minutes without magic.”_

_Iwaizumi wanted to protest more but he knew he was right. He could barely run at full speed without getting tired quickly. He was starting to be able to run faster now that Matsukawa was lending him some of his magic. But he couldn’t leave them here. He was their best combatant. Well, he was with his magic._

_“Stop worrying about it. We can handle ourselves enough to get out without you here. And your worrying is giving me a headache.”_

_“I can’t just leave you guys here.”_

_“You’ve already decided you can’t stay. Stop arguing.”_

_“Fine but where am I gonna go without teleportation?” Iwaizumi countered._

_“One of us will probably still be able to.” Matsukawa looked farther ahead of them. “Close your eyes.”_

_Iwaizumi didn’t think before he slammed his eyes shut. There was another flash of light and-_

He opened his eyes to find himself surrounded in the familiar darkness. He cursed to find that he couldn’t remember what happened past that point. Maybe if he could just remember, he could find a way out, but all he ever got were bits and pieces. He mentally sighed. Whenever he got shaken out of a memory like that, it could only mean one thing. A small light formed, getting bigger and bigger, just as it always did.

He had gotten better at manipulating his form inside of the mirror once he figured out it had something to do with his memories. He could look as he had at any point in his life. It was always easier to look like his current self than any past version of him. It always made his arm hurt when he went to a time before his scar, so he typically didn’t change his appearance. Clothing wasn’t so much of a problem, so he could wear normal, not destroyed clothes whenever _she_ visited.

The light was finally at full size and he could see out. He couldn’t tell what time of day it was, since Yuki had dark circles around her eyes this time, he could assume it was night. Or she was just tired because the son she _insisted_ she didn’t have was keeping her up. Even with his shitty memory, he could at least remember her husband talking about their son. He may not be able to remember any faces at the moment, but he could remember bits and pieces of things over the years.

“So,” she started and Iwaizumi flinched. She was definitely not in a good mood today. “When are you going to admit you know something?”

“How long have I been here?” Iwaizumi asked, completely ignoring her question. Probably not his best idea.

“I asked first,” she said narrowing her eyes. Yeah, definitely not his best idea, but he never was very good at censoring his thoughts.

“Maybe I’ll say something if you tell me how long I’ve been here. It’s not like I’ll be going anywhere soon, so you’ve got as long as you want to get your answer.”

She scowled. Definitely not a good sign, but she didn’t say anything right away, so Iwaizumi hoped maybe he’d be let off the hook. She reached forward, quick as lightning, but he saw it in slow motion as her hand just left his field of view, gripping the frame of the mirror, and a searing pain traveled up his arm. He fell to his knees grabbing his arm and gritted his teeth, refusing to cry out. Yuki looked down calmly. “You’ve been here for a year. What do you remember?”

“I - fuck, maybe... maybe if you’d stop that,” he forced out. The pain eased up to a dull throb, but still present enough that he couldn’t just ignore it. “I know you’ve got a son. He should be three by now and-” he was cut off as the pain increased once again.

“Relevant things. You know what I want to know.”

She let up on the pain again and Iwaizumi really did try to remember something important. All he got when he tried was a headache and strange images flashing through his mind. “There was something...” he started quietly, hating that he was giving in, “we were... we were fighting something? It was powerful, uh, and hard to hit. There were really bright things too. I don’t know,” he sighed in frustration, “I don’t remember.”

“Try,” she said sharply.

“I am!” he yelled, “You think I don’t want to just tell you what you want so I can leave and be done?”

“Try harder,” she corrected, mostly ignoring Iwaizumi’s outburst.

“Why can’t you just ask your husband what happened?”

“Because,” she said, tightening her grip on the mirror more and more, leaving Iwaizumi in more pain that he had been in ever that he could remember, “he _died_.”

Iwaizumi curled in on himself. He bit his lip hard enough to bleed in an attempt to not make a sound. He couldn’t take it though. “Please...” he gasped, “please stop.”

“Try harder,” she repeated before leaving him in the dark again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (this kinda got dark fast whoops)  
> find me on tumblr @theprettysettersclub


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's not dead! haha school likes to kill me and then i like to spend a week sleeping instead of doing literally anything else

Iwaizumi could not have been more frustrated. His respect for everyone that taught him infinitely soared when he realized just how hard teaching magic actually was. And this kid knew next to nothing. He could sense and feel magic, but other than that, his mom taught him nothing. All he knew was instinctual things that Iwaizumi could do since he could remember.

And he wouldn’t stop calling him Iwa-chan. He flat out refused when Iwaizumi asked him. (He was even nice about it. He said please and everything.)

“You’re not a very good teacher,” the kid commented after multiple failed attempts by Iwaizumi to teach him the very basics.

“You’re not a very good student,” he shot back. “It’s not a hard concept. You just have to find your own magic.”

“But Iwa-chan it’s hard,” he whined. “I don’t understand how.”

“It’s not hard if you try.”

“Explain it different then.”

Iwaizumi sighed. “Fine. What’s something that makes you really happy?”

“What does that have to do with anything, Iwa-chan?”

Iwaizumi glared at him. “You’ll see, hopefully. Just think of something that makes you happy.”

The kid pouted, but looked like he was making an attempt. Iwaizumi leaned back on his hands. His surroundings, in the mirror, were more solid than they had ever been. After a while, Iwaizumi didn’t know how long as a result of not being able to tell when day or night was, things mostly stayed the same in the mirror. He found what he could do without pain and had mostly gotten used to the conditions he was living in. Iwaizumi wasn’t quite sure what to make of the new changes, not sure if they were good or bad.

“Don’t think so hard about it. What’s the first thing you thought of?”

“Well, my mom,” he said quietly. Iwaizumi arched an eyebrow, prompting him to go on. “But you don’t like her, so I thought you’d want me to think of something else.”

Iwaizumi tried very carefully to keep his expression neutral, but he had to admit he was surprised the kid was that perceptive. “I don’t care,” he grunted, “it’s whatever makes _you_ happy, afterall.”

“Okay, then what?”

“Well, magic is used to make change. Pick something small you want to change and think about how you want to change it,” Iwaizumi explained, hoping it was simple enough for a kid. Of course, there was a way more complicated explanation, but this covered the basics.

“Something like what?” the kid asked. Honestly, in Iwaizumi’s opinion, he asked way too many questions.

“I don’t know, a rock.”

“But-” Iwaizumi glared at him before he could protest. Of course he knew there wasn’t a rock in the room. He hadn’t tried using magic for a while, but maybe with the new changes he’d be able to without consequences. Bringing his hands together, he focused on creating a small, simple rock. Pain shot through his arm, but it was bearable and definitely _not_ the worst he’d ever experienced. He glanced up and smiled slightly at the awe showing on the kid’s face when he opened his hands and there was a small rock. “Can I do that?” he gasped.

Iwaizumi tossed the rock at him, the surface in front of him rippling slightly as the rock passed through. “With practice you’ll be able to.”

“Seriously?” Iwaizumi nodded, still smiling. “How do I do it?”

“First, you have to start with something simpler. Try changing its shape,” he suggested.

The kid picked up the rock and glared at it for a while before flopping backwards. “It didn’t work.”

“Try again. No one gets it on the first try.”

“I’ve been trying for _hours_ though. Can I take a break, Iwa-chan?”

Iwaizumi sighed. “It’s not like I can really stop you. It’s easiest if you just keep trying though.”

“Fine,” he grumbled and sat up, concentrating again. Iwaizumi watched him struggle for a while. He remembered it took him _forever_ to be able to do anything, but after he started, his improvement was almost explosive. After he was finally able to use magic, he learned everything very quickly. He couldn’t quite remember what the first thing he learned actually was, a side effect of this damn spell, but he knew that whoever his teacher was (also something he couldn't remember at the moment) was extremely impressed. “I got it, Iwa-chan!” the kid’s voice startled him out of his thoughts.

Glancing at the rock, Iwaizumi was pleasantly surprised. He’d expected some sort of slight change, but instead it was a perfect star, even slightly tinged yellow. “Can you do it again?”

The rock shifted again, this time a heart, noticeably red. “I can do it!”

Much as he didn’t want to, Iwaizumi found himself smiling again. He wasn’t very good with praise or anything like that, so he hoped this would be enough for the kid. Judging by the way he was practically shining, Iwaizumi figured it would be good enough.

“So what’s next?”

\--

_There was another flash of light and as soon as the light faded, he opened his eyes again._

_“What the hell is that?”_

_“You can’t tell?” Matsukawa asked, surprised. “Well, I guess since you’re so young...”_

_Iwaizumi smacked him. “I’m only a couple of months younger than you.”_

_“Still the youngest,” he taunted. “Anyway, I guess you can’t feel it’s a Nest. Once we get closer, you should be able to feel it. The scent alone right now makes me want to throw up. Each flash gives us more to fight. They’re not usually this strong.”_

_“Then-” Iwaizumi started._

_“You’re not allowed to stay longer than us finding Makki.”_

_“What if he can’t do anything either?”_

_“He’ll be able to,” Matsukawa said with conviction._

_“And what about Oikawa-san?”_

_“He can be the least of your worries. Of all of us, he can take care of himself the most. Both you and I know it.”_

_“I still feel bad though.”_

_“I know. I can feel it.”_

_Iwaizumi winced, “Sorry about that.”_

_“Just trust that we can take care of ourselves, okay?”_

_Iwaizumi sighed, but didn’t continue to argue. It was pointless to keep arguing and waste breath._

_“Hey can you shift?” Matsukawa asked._

No, no no no. It was fading. He tried to make it stay.

_”You think I haven’t tried already?” Iwaizumi grumbled._

_Matsukawa sighed. “It was worth a shot. You think you could hold a transformation if I helped you shift?”_

He could see the images, but couldn’t hear anything. It didn’t take long before the images faded as well. Iwaizumi wanted to scream. He was always _so close_ to finding out what really happened, but there always seemed to be more. It was already two years into his imprisonment and he still didn’t know what he did to get here. Or why Oikawa-san’s wife kept him here. She had finally stopped denying that she had a son, obviously coming to the conclusion that Iwaizumi wouldn’t be a threat to him.

The familiar light materialized in front of him. Iwaizumi sighed and attempted to prepare himself for what was sure to be a taxing visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr @theprettysettersclub


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been so long i'm so sorry, I just got really busy and hit a bit of a block for this fic but i'm over it now and the next update won't take like 4 months
> 
> find me on tumblr @theprettysettersclub

Iwaizumi could tell the kid wasn’t happy, but he had no idea how to fix anything. He would barely even talk to him, leaving Iwaizumi to carry any sort of conversation and after _who knows_ how long without talking to anyone, conversation wasn’t exactly Iwaizumi’s strong suit. He wanted to ask what was bothering him, but the last thing he wanted to do was make the kid even more upset. Instead they both simply sat in awkward silence.

“Hey, Iwa-chan?” Iwaizumi immediately snapped to attention at the sound of his name. It was the first time the kid actually spoke to him since he got there. “Do you know what day it is?”

Iwaizumi looked down, almost embarrassed. “No,” he said quietly.

“It’s the day my dad died,” he sniffled. “And my mom isn’t even home.”

“How many years has it been?”

“S-seven,” the kid said, wiping at his eyes.

“I...” Iwaizumi started. “I knew your dad.”

“You did?” Iwaizumi nodded. “What was he like?”

Iwaizumi hesitated. His memory was still foggy at best. “Haven’t you heard what he was like from your mom?”

The kid’s face instantly soured. “She never tells me anything about him. She always gets this weird look on her face when I ask. But if you knew him, you can tell me about him.”

Iwaizumi was a strong person. He could fight as many creatures as he could count (provided his memory was accurate, which wasn’t likely at best). He could say no to the kid’s hopeful face. He could. “Do you know what he did for work?”

He smiled, far too bright and innocent. “You’re really gonna tell me about him?”

Iwaizumi nodded. Apparently he had met his match with this kid. “I don’t remember very much, this mirror sort of scrambled most of my memories. But,” he added quickly, before the kid’s face could fall, “I do remember he helped teach me most of what I know. More of the advanced stuff. And he was one of the best at our job. He could have been a one man team, if he wanted.”

“What did he do?” 

“Our job was to fight all the nasty creatures in the forest and make sure they never reached defenseless people.”

“And he was the best?”

Iwaizumi nodded. “The best that I knew.”

“Were you two a team?”

Another nod. “It was us and two others.”

“That sounds so cool!” the kid gushed.

“It was dangerous. And really difficult. But I liked it, I think.”

“Hey, Iwa-chan, can I ask one more question before we get back to work?” Iwaizumi nodded. “Why don’t you ever call me by my name? You always say kid or don’t even say my name.”

“I… do?” Iwaizumi asked. He hadn’t really been paying any attention to it before now. Though thinking back, he realized it was true. “I… I guess it’s because I associate the name ‘Oikawa’ with your father.”

“You could call me Tooru,” he suggested. “I mean, if you want.”

“Okay,” Iwaizumi said. Inwardly, he cursed himself. He shouldn’t get attached to this kid, and the same the other way around. Of course, it seemed too late already what with how weak Iwaizumi was to Tooru’s pouting. “Now you should get back to work. There’s a lot that you haven’t learned.”

\--

_”I’m not sure I could. It’s not worth it for you to waste your magic trying and then have it fail. Then we’d both be useless.”_

_“But if it_ does _work, we’ll have a dragon on our side to help us fight and you don’t need magic to fight while you’re a dragon,” Matsukawa argued. “Then you won’t have to leave.”_

_“Not worth it for us both to not have magic. Shifting takes more out of you than you’d expect. Much more than mind reading.”_

_“Mind reading is like second nature, it just happens.”_

_“Yeah, and shifting isn’t like that.”_

_“Still, shit- duck.” Iwaizumi didn’t think twice before leaning down so Matsukawa could reach over him and shoot a fireball into the trees. He heard a screech and assumed that Matsukawa had hit his mark. There was another pulse of light after that and Iwaizumi stumbled, not closing his eyes fast enough._

_Someone else grabbed onto his other arm and helped him recover. He still couldn’t see, but he was pretty sure it was Hanamaki._

_“Gods, Iwa, what happened to you?” That voice was definitely Hanamaki’s. “What happened to your_ magic _?”_

Iwaizumi was jolted harshly out of the memory. He knew what was coming and he honestly just wanted to give Yuki the information she wanted, but every time he was interrupted like this, he forgot what he had just remembered.

“Two years and 3 months,” Yuki said once she was in full view. After a while, she simply started out by saying how long he’d been there, probably hoping that it would make Iwaizumi a bit more cooperative. It didn’t, not really, but Iwaizumi appreciated knowing how long he’d been imprisoned.

“I’ve got nothing new for you,” Iwaizumi said without missing a beat.

“Not even the names of the rest of your team?” Iwaizumi shook his head. “I think you’re lying.”

“What reason would I have to lie?” Iwaizumi responded. “Last time you said you would let me go if I remembered their names. Wouldn’t I want to get out of here as soon as possible?”

She narrowed her eyes, hand coming up to rest on the frame of the mirror. “You seem like the kind of person willing to take one for the team so to speak. How do I know you don’t want to protect your friends?”

Iwaizumi would have backed away if it would have made any difference. Instead he was forced to stand firm. “I don’t remember them.”

He knew the consequences of an answer she didn’t like, but that didn’t make it feel any better when she scratched the frame of the mirror and pain shot through him. He managed to stay on his feet though. It was a step up from the last time when he had fallen to his knees or the time before that when he couldn’t hold himself up in any way or the time before _that_ when he was as close to passing out as he could get while being in whatever state he could call this.

“I think you do,” she said, voice ice cold.

He glared at her. “No. I don’t.”

“Yes you do. You’re just trying to play hero.”

“I seriously don’t remember,” Iwaizumi said, trying to add a pleading tone into his voice. He knew she liked it when she thought he was caving. “I wish I did, but I don’t”

“You’re lying,” she said and this time Iwaizumi _did_ fall to his knees from the pain.

“Stop.” This time he tried to make his voice sound strong or commanding or anything but weak but he couldn’t manage it.

“I’ll stop this when you stop lying. Just admit it. You remembered your teammates.”

Iwaizumi held out for a few more seconds before he caved. “Fine, yes. I remember them.” He sighed when the pain stopped. “But I won’t tell you their names.”

She squatted down so she could look Iwaizumi in the eyes. “You will. Eventually.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> huh i guess it's exactly a month between updates this time, weird
> 
> there should be another update soon, too

Oikawa woke up in the middle of the night feeling something was off. He looked around his room and nothing seemed out of place, but the feeling was definitely there. He was tempted to ignore it and go back to sleep, but Iwaizumi had taught him to trust his gut. The air was cold when he slipped out of his bed and tiptoed to the door. He cast a silencing spell on the door, one of the more recent things Iwaizumi taught him, and opened the door, making sure to cancel the spell once it was open. His mother had barely taught him anything about magic, so she couldn’t know that he knew as much as he did if he wanted to keep this secret.

Everything was still in the house, yet Oikawa was _certain_ there was something wrong. The door to his mother’s room was open and it looked like she wasn’t in it, but he couldn’t tell because of the darkness. He kept going into the kitchen and almost passed the storage room, but something stopped him. 

Under the door was the flickering light from a candle. He inched forward, being extra careful to not make a sound, and pressed his ear against the door. Faint murmurs reached his ears, but he couldn’t tell what they were saying. One voice was probably his mother’s, but the other one, Oikawa couldn’t be sure. The only person that would be in the storage room besides his mother or him is Iwaizumi. But there was no way his mother knew about Iwaizumi. He’d played his part flawlessly and so far she didn’t know he knew Iwaizumi existed. And that meant that she shouldn’t know that Iwaizumi exists. If she did, Oikawa was certain that she would try to help him, regardless of Iwaizumi’s weird grudge against her.

He bit his lip and turned the handle of the door very slowly, careful to stay completely silent. The light stung his eyes and he blinked rapidly in order to see clearly again. That was definitely his mother in there, in front of Iwaizumi’s mirror. She looked angry, more so than he’d ever seen her in his entire life.

“Answer me,” she growled.

Iwaizumi glared at her, it was a little hard to see him at the angle Oikawa was looking from, but when Iwaizumi spoke, it was clear as day. “No.” His mother reached towards the frame of the mirror. Iwaizumi's eyes flashed red, reminding Oikawa of the first time they had met. Even though he was only 7 then, he hadn't forgotten. “You know that won’t work. That stopped working a long time ago.”

“That may be so,” she said and if Oikawa couldn’t see her right in front of him, he wouldn’t be able to tell that was actually his mother. “However, you’ll be thrilled to find out I’ve done some research.”

“What-” Iwaizumi asked, sounding almost worried. His eyes flickered back to green for a second before reverting back to red. He cut himself off when Oikawa’s mother’s hand started glowing electric blue. “W-what kind of research?”

“Oh, you know, just some general things, mostly about how ice doesn’t work well with dragon shifters.”

“How did you find that out?" Now he sounded actually _afraid_. "I never told you anything about what I was.”

“Like I said,” Oikawa’s mother said, raising her hand up to hover over the surface of the mirror, “I’ve done some research. Now are you going to answer my question or not?”

“I won’t.”

Oikawa chewed on his lip from behind the door. He had no idea what was going on. There was no way his mother would ever do something like this. She just wouldn’t. And yet the evidence in front of him made it glaringly obvious that she _would_. She may not be the _best_ mother in existence, but she definitely wouldn’t do this. He was brought out of his thoughts by a cry from Iwaizumi. Oikawa looked up to see Iwaizumi doubled over and ice spreading over part of the mirror. Iwaizumi looked up and Oikawa gasped when he saw his lips were blue and he was shivering hard.

He couldn’t take it anymore. He flung the door open and knocked his mother’s arm away from the mirror. “Stop it! You’re hurting him!”

“Tooru? What are you doing?”

“Mama, you can’t do this, why are you doing this?” Oikawa asked, getting so worked up he was close to tears. He refused to move from in front of the mirror. “What are you doing?”

“Tooru, sweetheart, calm down and I’ll tell you everything you want to know,” his mother said, taking a step towards him. He stepped back. She sighed. “This is why I haven’t told you. You’re not ready yet.”

“Ready for what?” he asked fearfully.

“The truth,” she answered simply. “Just let me come closer and I’ll explain.”

Oikawa hesitantly took a step forward. His mother opened her arms to him and he nearly fell into them, wanting some sort of consolation after what he’d just seen. “Wh-why did you-- why did you-?”

“Shh, it’s alright,” she said. Her voice was warm again, like he was used to, while she ran her fingers through his hair. “Why are you up so late? You must be _so tired_.”

Oikawa found himself nodding, suddenly barely able to keep his eyes open.

“You’d really do something like that to your own son?” he heard Iwaizumi ask accusingly, but he sounded so far away and he was nearly asleep.

“He’d just get in my way,” his mother replied, voice back to its scary coldness. “He wouldn’t understand what I’m doing. Better to do this than let him remember tonight and be afraid of me.”

“So you’re taking his memory, too? You know how temperamental that kind of magic is, right?”

Oikawa was going nearly completely limp in his mother’s arms. He just wanted to _sleep_. He wanted the other two to just be quiet. He felt so warm and his mom’s hand in his hair was so calming. Sleep seemed so much nicer than getting worked up, so he let himself drift off as his mom’s arms tightened around him.

“Why should you care? He’s my son and I know what I’m doing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr @theprettysettersclub
> 
> also in case it's not really clear, oikawa's mom used her magic to put him to sleep and is gonna make him not remember this at all


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this chapter took so long omg but good news: it got too long, so consider this part one with a part two coming soon (as in like tomorrow maybe soon)

It was a while later and Iwaizumi still wanted to scream at Tooru’s mother. She’d taken Tooru back to his room after she knocked him out and didn’t come back. He hoped that Tooru wouldn’t forget him completely. Not when they were making so much progress and were probably only a year or two away from his _freedom_. Sure, it seemed like a long time, but a year could pass and it would feel the same as a day to Iwaizumi. But if she _set them back_ enough that he would have to completely reteach Tooru magic, Iwaizumi would be pissed.

The light showed up again and Iwaizumi waited anxiously to see who it would be.

“Iwa-chan, hurry up!”

Iwaizumi sighed in relief. At least he remembered him. He fixed his face into a glare, just to keep up appearances.

“You know I can’t control how fast I appear for you,” he grumbled.

“But it always goes faster when I tell it to. Besides, I’ve got news for you!” Tooru bounced on his toes excitedly for a few seconds before he couldn’t contain his excitement any longer. “Mom’s gonna start teaching me magic soon, so I’ll learn even faster!”

“That’s… great,” Iwaizumi said after a pause where he realized he was supposed to be _happy_ about this. Instead, he was just trying to figure out why she had decided on now of all times.

Tooru’s excitement died down. “What’s wrong? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“It is, believe me, it is. It’s just…” Iwaizumi trailed off, not sure how to phrase it. It wasn’t like Tooru would believe him if he just told him. Hell, he barely believed it when he saw it in person. “I think it might be hard for you to pretend that you don’t know any magic.” _And I don’t trust your mother_ at all _and she might try to keep you from remembering what you saw with constant monitoring, not like she couldn’t before, but now it could look like she’s just showing you something when she’s actually recasting whatever memory spell she used._

“I’m sure I’ll be able to fake it easily enough. Besides, I can always just say I was practicing on my own.”

Iwaizumi sighed. He couldn’t get much more reassurance than that without risking making the past few years useless.

“I’ve got something new for you to learn today. It’s the most advanced thing I’ve taught you so far. Do you think you can handle it?”

“Of course I can, Iwa-chan!” Tooru said excitedly. “What is it?”

“Memory retrieval.”

_“I have no idea. I just know I can’t use_ any _magic at all.”_

_“What could overpower a dragon shifter?” Hanamaki asked._

_“Pure-blood dragons, higher demons, higher gods, and kitsune,” Iwaizumi answered almost instantly. “But I haven’t seen any of those tonight. Not to mention we’re_ actually _fucked if we do.”_

_“I’ll check for their auras. Now that I know what I’m looking for, it shouldn’t be hard. I’ve been trying to figure out what the catalyst for this Nest is, and with our luck it’ll be one of those things. Mattsun, Iwa, cover,” Hanamaki instructed as he slowed to a stop._

_Iwaizumi and Matsukawa kept watch for any more of the lesser creatures being summoned by the Nest. He drew his bow and nocked an arrow in the string, not hesitating to shoot anything that moved in the forest around them. Magic would have been easier, but he had to do what he could in his current state._

_“Okay, I’ve got it, let’s go,” Hanamaki said. Iwaizumi turned around to see the glow from his eyes fading. “We’re dealing with a higher demon.”_

_“Nothing we haven’t dealt with before, right?” Matsukawa replied._

_“Well,” Hanamaki started with a grimace, “it’s maybe on the higher end of even higher demons. Its aura is fucking powerful. And there’s a second one, less powerful but still a higher demon. No wonder you can’t do anything, Iwa, both of their auras are pressing down on you so much that your own aura is barely visible.”_

_Iwaizumi nodded along, pretending he understood all of the aura talk. Hanamaki would probably explain it better later if he asked, but now wasn’t the time._

_“Basically they’re putting a lot of their magical energy into making sure you can’t use yours,” Matsukawa supplied._

_“Now we just need to know why and then we’ll basically have them beat.”_

_Another bright flash reminded them they had a job to be doing and they continued on towards the Nest.._

“Iwa-chan? Are you okay?” Iwaizumi blinked, surprised at how bright the light in the room was. “Iwa-chan, please answer me.”

“You look like you’re about to cry.”

“You’re okay, thank gods, you’re _okay_ ,” Tooru said, voice wavering and even closer to tears.

“What are you talking about? Why would I not be?” Iwaizumi looked down at himself to check if anything looked weird that would make Tooru get worried like this. Everything seemed okay. He even felt fine, save for a small headache. “Tooru. Take a deep breath. Calm down, I’m fine. What happened?”

“You said we were going to do memory retrieval stuff today and you started talking about it then you just fell over. Your eyes were glowing and you were mumbling something about demons and dragons and gods and then you went still. Like it didn’t look like you were breathing still and your eyes stopped glowing and it’s been like a half hour,” Tooru explained, words rushing out of him so fast Iwaizumi had a bit of trouble understanding what he said at first. “What happened?”

“I think I remembered something,” Iwaizumi said quietly. “Well, I guess it’s more like reliving it for me. I think maybe the reaction you saw was a side effect of being trapped here. I don’t know, it’s-”

“What did you remember?” Tooru asked, rubbing at his eyes with his sleeve.

“It’s just… something that happened years ago. I still can’t remember the whole thing.”

“Well, what do you remember? Maybe talking about it would help,” Tooru suggested.

Iwaizumi shook his head. “It’s not a night I’d like to relive by talking about it again.”

“But-”

“No,” he said sternly and immediately regretted his tone. “Maybe some other time.”

“Fine,” Tooru heaved out a sigh, “Let’s talk about something else.”

“Like what?”

 

“How old are you? Do you have any friends? What are they like? Tell me more about my dad. What do you like to do for fun? Do you even know how to have fun?” Tooru asked, barely pausing for a breath in between questions. Iwaizumi laughed, holding up a hand for him to stop.

“I don’t age in here, so I’m still 16. Of course I have friends and they’re a pain in my ass but I wouldn’t trade them for anything. Your dad was a great teacher and he was so excited when he learned he was going to have a child that he told nearly everyone. ‘Do you even know how to have fun?’ What kind of question is that? I go flying or spar with my friends.”

“You can fly?” Tooru gasped. “How?”

“I’m a dragon shifter,” Iwaizumi said simply. Tooru winced when he spoke, bringing a hand up to his head. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I just got this really bad headache all of a sudden,” Tooru assured him. “It’s going away now.”

“We should probably be done for today anyway.”

“But Iwa-chan,” Tooru whined.

“Nope. If you still want to do something, find a book or something about memory magic.”

“Okay,” Tooru pouted. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Iwa-chan.”

Iwaizumi nodded and everything faded to darkness. He sighed. The new fragment of his memory that had returned helped a little, but not much. He still wasn’t sure how he even ended up here. Higher demons. Iwaizumi started making a list of what they could do. Create smaller demons, but those were easy to take out. Change shape and form, but that would have been a thing they took care of. Apparently they could press their auras down on him so he couldn’t use magic. He’s not sure how or if they ever fixed it. None of those related to his current predicament. Wait, possess, they could possess--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr @theprettysettersclub  
> i'm also part of @thewritersquad on tumblr


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, I actually updated today, woo!
> 
> also rip me bc i put off my summer homework for this so now i've got 16 lessons of homework to do before tuesday
> 
> also: it's been mentioned before that iwa is a dragon shifter and in the last chapter pure blood dragons were mentioned. yes, iwa has dragon blood. no, one of his parents didn't fuck a dragon. dragon shifters are created when a dragon blesses a child (usually a baby before it's even a year old) with its magic, thus allowing the child to be able to learn draconic magic and shift into a dragon

_“Do you think we could use this against them? If they’re putting so much magic into making sure I can’t use mine, they’re weaker right now, right?”_

_“Yeah, but-” Hanamaki started._

_“I can force a shift. Without magic. I don’t need magic in that form, but they don’t know that. It’ll be a lot harder for them to contain my draconic magic, so they’ll be even weaker. You guys’ll be able to attack and kill them or at least send them back through the Nest.”_

_“You can really shift without magic?”_

_“That’s not all, though, is it?” Matsukawa accused, pulling him to a halt. “What aren’t you telling us about it?”_

_“I’ll be… out of commission for a bit.”_

_“Earlier you said shifting takes a lot out of you, even_ with _magic. What’s different here?”_

_Iwaizumi sighed, looking at the ground. “It does take a lot. I’m only considering this because it’ll give us an actual chance at success tonight. If I could actually fight, this wouldn’t even cross my mind.” He looked up at Matsukawa. “It hurts to do it without magic. It’s faster, but it hurts like hell. It’s unstable, too. I could shift back at any time. I still think it’s worth a shot though. It’ll give you guys a better chance at taking down the demons.”_

_“You can’t do that. It would be ridiculous. We’re not going to let you hurt yourself just to_ maybe _give us an advantage, right Makki?” Hanamaki didn’t answer right away. “You can’t possibly think this is a good idea?”_

_“I don’t think it’s a good idea, but I think it’ll work. Iwaizumi, how long would the shift take?”_

_“I can’t believe-” Matsukawa exclaimed._

_“15 to 20 seconds. I won’t be able to do anything for a few minutes after, but that’s when you should attack. If the demons figure out that I don’t need magic to attack as a dragon, they might stop trying to repress mine,” Iwaizumi answered, interrupting Matsukawa._

_“Can you handle it?” Iwaizumi nodded. “Then I think we should try.”_

_“This is insane! You two don’t actually think you should try, do you?” Matsukawa nearly yelled._

_“Do you have a better idea?” Hanamaki shot back. “We can’t stick to our original plan with Iwaizumi sans magic, so we have to improvise.”_

_“I’m doing it. You can choose whether or not you want to help while I can’t.”_

_“It’s a bad idea, but I can’t just let you two get yourselves killed. Let’s go.”_

_Hanamaki led them farther into the forest, following whatever trail he could see to get them closer to the Nest. Iwaizumi followed, bow drawn, watching for any more creatures in the trees while Matsukawa brought up the rear, fireball in hand. Iwaizumi was going to wait until they could see either the Nest or the demons to shift. He hadn’t attempted to force it many times, and it was supposed to get easier each time, but it really only got more painful each time._

_Once they were close enough, Iwaizumi asked Hanamaki to put a silencing spell on him. Matsukawa looked like he wanted to argue again, but it was far too late to back out now. He started to shift._

_Immediately, he fell to the ground, grasping his stomach. He curled in on himself involuntarily as his body started changing. Tears leaked from his eyes and he wouldn’t be able to speak after the silencing spell wore off from how much he was screaming. The shift was already done, but the agonizing pain wouldn’t go away for a few minutes. He only barely managed to think clearly enough to tell Matsukawa to go. He closed his eyes when he saw Hanamaki and Matsukawa run towards the Nest and tried not to pass out. A tremor ran through him and he cried out in pain. Any movement hurt._

_He laid like that for a few minutes before he could finally stand up. His entire body was still in pain, but it was slightly more manageable now. It didn’t take long to get used to the shift in size and shape, so he could bound towards the Nest where Hanamaki and Matsukawa were still fighting._

_The fight seemed to be going better than he had expected it to. There was only one demon he could see and Oikawa-san seemed to be helping Hanamaki and Matsukawa beat it back into the Nest to seal it._

_“I can’t believe that actually worked!” Matsukawa yelled breathlessly. “Iwaizumi, how’re you feeling?” Iwaizumi did his best to convey to Matsukawa that he was fine._

_“Aww, what’s our little Hajime have to say?” Hanamaki cooed teasingly. He reached up to scratch under Iwaizumi’s chin and, as much as Iwaizumi loved that, he stopped him with a glare._

_“Well, he’s fine and he definitely wants you to scratch him.” Iwaizumi glared at Matsukawa this time. “I’m not wrong, am I?” Iwaizumi huffed._

_“Good work, you three,” Oikawa-san said from off to the side and Iwaizumi was instantly on guard. Something was off about his voice. Now that Iwaizumi thought about it, something was off with his scent, too. “I took out the first one, but I wasn’t sure that I could take that one on by myself.”_

_Now Iwaizumi was_ sure _something was wrong. One person can’t take out a higher demon by themself. It’s not possible. Oikawa-san was amazing, but he wouldn’t ever be able to. He kept talking and Iwaizumi felt his sense of dread growing by the second. Matsukawa and Hanamaki didn’t seem bothered at all, though, so he tried to calm his nerves. It wasn’t easy, though, especially as a dragon. It wasn’t in his nature to ignore his instincts. He could feel a growl building up and he was glad the silencing spell was still working._

_“Iwaizumi, are you alright?”_

_His restraint snapped and he snarled at Oikawa-san, teeth bared._

_“Iwa, calm down!” Hanamaki yelled. “What’s wrong with you?”_

_“He must still be wound up from the battle,” Oikawa-san said, reaching his hand towards Iwaizumi. He jerked back from the touch, just barely resisting the urge to snap at the hand. “It’s alright, it’s just me.”_

_“Maybe just give him some time to calm down,” Hanamaki said, stepping between them and gently corralling Oikawa-san away from him. Matsukawa stepped in, too, and pushed Iwaizumi back._

_“Iwa, what’s wrong? This isn’t like you.” Iwaizumi huffed, glaring beyond him. Matsukawa grabbed his snout and forced Iwaizumi to look at him. “Pay attention to me, not him. What’s wrong. Is it something with Oikawa-san?” Iwaizumi nodded. “Is he hurt?” He shook his head. “He’s different?” Another nod. “His scent?” Iwaizumi nodded vigorously. “His scent is wrong. Why?” Iwaizumi huffed again. Being a dragon had_ many _perks, but the lack of communication definitely wasn’t one. “Do you trust him?” He shook his head again and started lashing his tail back and forth impatiently. “Calm down, I’m doing the best I can. So his scent is wrong and you don’t trust him. Was it the part where he said he took care of the other demon alone?” A nod. “The other demon possessed Oikawa-san, didn’t it?” Matsukawa realized, a look of terror on his face._

_“Is Iwa okay?” Hanamaki called from a distance away. Matsukawa whirled around, making sure he was safe. Iwaizumi tried to appear less threatening._

_“He’s fine now,” Matsukawa replied. “You were right, Oikawa-san, he was just wound up from the battle.”_

_“I’m glad he’s feeling better now,” the demon said. He and Hanamaki walked back closer to them. As soon as he got close enough and Hanamaki was far enough away, Iwaizumi lunged forward and pinned him down under one foot._

_“What are you doing? Iwa, stop that, let him up!” Hanamaki ran forward and tried to pry Iwaizumi’s leg off the demon, but Iwaizumi pushed him back with his tail._

_“Get back, Oikawa-san’s possessed! The demon must have possessed him before we got here.”_

_“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I told you, I took out the first one.”_

_“If you’re really Oikawa-san, what’s my name?” Matsukawa asked. The demon paled. “That’s what I thought.” Matsukawa started reciting a spell to banish the demon._

_It squirmed underneath Iwaizumi’s foot before whistling and calling all of the lesser demons the Nest had summoned. Iwaizumi did his best to keep the demons at bay, but he couldn’t move from his spot, so it was difficult. Out of all four of them, Hanamaki had the worst combat skills, especially when it came to close combat. Iwaizumi was panicking, worried that he wouldn’t be able to protect Hanamaki and Matsukawa. There were so many demons spilling into the clearing where the Nest used to be and Iwaizumi’s fire breath just wasn’t enough. So he did what any normal person would do in such a stressful situation. He fucked up. He moved his leg, just a little, and the demon slipped free._

_“Look out!” Hanamaki yelled at Matsukawa, just before the demon charged him. Iwaizumi tackled it before it could reach and the two of them rolled along the ground._

_“You won’t hurt me. Your precious ‘Oikawa-san’ would be hurt,” the demon taunted. Iwaizumi ground his teeth together. It was right, to a point. He wouldn’t do anything to permanently damage him, but injuring and knocking him around a little was something he was willing to do._

_“Iwa, I’ll take care of the lesser demons, you focus on that thing."_

_He nodded once before turning to the demon. It was confident he wouldn’t actually attack and he was about to prove it wrong. He charged at it and it held its ground for a surprisingly long time. At the very last second, it leapt away, but Iwaizumi caught it with his tail and sent it flying._

_“You’d really attack your friend?” Now that the demon wasn’t putting up an act, its voice was much more unsettling. “I was under the impression that humans actually cared for each other.”_

_Iwaizumi growled at it and charged again. This time the demon was quicker to react, sending attack after attack at Iwaizumi. He dodged most of them, but some hit their targets. Luckily, his scales were tough and he barely felt the attacks. They fought for a while and Iwaizumi mostly tuned out their surroundings. He trusted Hanamaki to protect Matsukawa while he finished the spell, so all he had to worry about right now was the demon._

_He had the upper hand for the most part. The spells the demon was attacking him with only knocked him around a little while his were actually wearing it down. The demon managed an actual decent hit, but Iwaizumi didn’t let that stop him. It was only until the third blow from the side that he had to take a step back. He wasn’t ready for the fourth one. The impact sent him flying and he lost the shift in mid-air before his back slammed into a tree and he fell to the ground._

_Every part of him hurt. His body was shaking and he couldn’t move. All he could do was watch as the demon walked toward him._

_“Honestly I was expecting more of a fight,” it said, crouching down next to him. Iwaizumi tried to move, to do anything, but he couldn’t. “You poor thing, you can’t even do anything to stop me anymore.” It started running its fingers through his hair in a fake gesture of comfort. “You were supposed to be the biggest problem, you know. But you’re still so young that you can’t really do anything. Without your magic, you were completely useless! I’ll admit, the part where you managed to shift anyway surprised me, but in the end it doesn’t really matter. I think I’ll make you watch while I kill the other two before I kill you.”_

_Iwaizumi found his strength in those words. He wouldn’t let this thing get to Hanamaki and Matsukawa. As it was standing up, he pulled a knife out of his boot, barely hesitating before stabbing the demon. Inky black blood dripped out of the wound as it stopped and looked him in the eyes._

_“You just killed him.”_

_“You can’t survive long without a host,” Iwaizumi said, stopping to cough. “I know… a bit about demons, you know. The three of us can’t host you.”_

_“You little shit, you’ll pay for that,” it snarled, lunging for Iwaizumi. He had nothing left in him to get away or fight back, so he merely squeezed his eyes shut._

_“Kazuo? Kazuo!” Iwaizumi heard someone yell. He opened his eyes and found he was on the floor in the middle of a room he’d never seen before. A woman was kneeling next to them, fussing over the demon. “My love, what happened?”_

_“Come closer,” it whispered. Iwaizumi only managed a low whine when he tried to warn her. It did make her pause to look at him, but the demon was more insistent. “Please, I need to…”_

_“It's alright, my love, whatever you need,” she said, leaning down to press her forehead against his. Iwaizumi could do nothing but watch as the demon possessed her instead, Oikawa-san’s body going extremely still._

_“Now to deal with you,” the demon growled, picking Iwaizumi up by the collar of his shirt._

Iwaizumi gasped as the memory finished. The feeling he had was similar to waking up after a particularly bad nightmare. Except he knew this wouldn't just go away. And for as many questions he had finally answered, he had even more now. There was one thing he knew for sure, though. He had to warn Tooru.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr @theprettysettersclub  
> i'm also part of @thewritersquad on tumblr


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome to part 2 of me trying to update everything by Halloween

“But mom, _why_ can’t I go with you?” Oikawa whined. “I’m not a little kid anymore.”

“I know, sweetie,” his mom said, ruffling his hair, “but you’re still not quite old enough. And you could get hurt out there.”

“But I won’t! You’ll protect me.”

“Maybe next time. Once you know how to protect yourself. I have to go. No more trying to sneak out while I’m gone.”

“But I get so bored by myself. Can’t I just go outside for a bit while you’re gone?”

His mom shook her head. “It’s not safe.”

Oikawa heaved a sigh and decided to stop arguing. His mom never let him come with on her trips into town. “Next time?”

She kissed his forehead. “We’ll see.”

“What if you taught me how to fight with magic?”

“When you’re older, we’ll talk about it. I’ve really got to go now or I won’t make it to town by sundown.”

“Okay, but will we _actually_ talk about it when you get back this time?”

“Of course. I promise. I’ll see you in a few days.”

“Okay, bye mom.”

She waved at him as she walked out the door. He gave a half-hearted wave back as he closed the door, obviously still disappointed that he couldn’t go with.

Usually he would go to Iwaizumi straight away, but he was still shaken over what had happened the day before. Instead, he went to the small collection of books his mom owned to try to learn something about memory magic. It took a while to find something useful, but he really struck gold when he did.

“Memory magic is not commonly used as it is very temperamental. Humans who have had a memory repressed have reported a variety of side effects including extreme headaches and migraines, dizziness, fainting, nosebleeds, temporary amnesia regarding events that occur after the repressed memory, and paranoia to name a few. See the following page for side-effects on non- and partial-humans,” Oikawa read out loud. “Why does he want me to look into this?”

He continued to read on, finding that most of the author’s comments were strongly advising against using memory magic at all. After a few pages, he found something else interesting.

“A human who has had a memory forcibly repressed is able to recover the memory if exposed to certain events regarding the whole memory. It could be a repeated action, seeing something like a painting from the same angle, or hearing a word or phrase again. If this method does not work, there are some spells to allow someone to recover their memory, however they will need to know their memory was taken in the first place. The sooner the memory was repressed after it was made, the harder it is to recover.”

Oikawa picked up the book and took it with him to talk to Iwaizumi.

“Why did you want me to look this up?” Oikawa asked, gesturing to the book. “It says that it's not used very much, so why?”

“It's a… precaution. Just in case anything happens.” Iwaizumi didn't look phased at all from the accusatory tone. “In my line of work, it happens more often than you might think. I just thought you should be aware of it. Especially because that's kinda what happened to me. In a way.”

“Oh. What _did_ happen to you? You've never really told me.”

“It was a demon. That's what happened,” Iwaizumi answered shortly.

“Demons are real?” Oikawa asked in wonder. “Mom always just said they were a myth.”

Iwaizumi laughed shortly. “No, demons are real. And more common than you might think. They can possess people, so they can blend in.”

“Why didn't the demon possess you? Wouldn't that be easier than sticking you in a mirror?” Oikawa asked, making himself comfortable on the floor. 

“Demons can't possess me. I'm a dragon shifter, so I'm not fully human anymore. Demons can only possess humans like your parents or you.”

Oikawa’s eyes widened. “You mean I could be possessed?” Iwaizumi nodded. “And you can’t?”

“That’s right.”

“You’re not human?” Oikawa asked, tilting his head and squinting at him. “You _look_ human.”

“It’s complicated and I don’t really know a lot about how it works myself, but when I was a baby a dragon blessed me or something and that’s why I can shift into a dragon. I’ve got just enough dragon blood that I can’t be possessed,” Iwaizumi explained.

“That’s so cool! Can I be a dragon shifter?” Oikawa gushed excitedly. It sounded _so cool_ to be only partially human and able to _turn into a dragon_.

Iwaizumi shook his head. “You’re too old now. Your magic would probably reject the draconic magic and you might die.”

Oikawa visibly deflated. “Oh. Okay.”

“It doesn’t mean you can’t do cool stuff, though.”

“Can you teach me how to fight?”

“Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr @theprettysettersclub  
> I'm also part of @thewritersquad on tumblr


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long to update! it's nearing the end, though, so i might update this more quickly than usual
> 
> also this chapter went in a bit of a different direction than I thought it would and that's probably not a good thing for oikawa and iwaizumi lmao

Iwaizumi was acting weird again, Oikawa could tell. There was something just… _off_ about the way he had been acting the last few times he had visited. (It wasn’t very often, if Oikawa was being honest. He could really only ever find a way away from the prying eyes of his mother once a month at most.) The worst part is that Oikawa _knew_ , was absolutely positive, that Iwaizumi wouldn’t give him an answer about why. It would either be that he didn’t even notice he was doing it or he _did_ and he wasn’t going to say anything.

But it bothered him. Not knowing what it was bothered him _so much_. And not being able to ask was even worse. He obviously couldn’t ask Iwaizumi. His mom was out of the question. And that was really all of the people Oikawa knew. His mom would sometimes bring over friends, but he was confined to his room when they were there and he didn’t dare try to sneak out. He had tried once, when he was younger, but the door had been locked from the outside.

One of those friends was over now. Had been for a few hours, at least, and Oikawa was bored out of his mind. He only kept a few books in his room, and he had read all of them already. There was no way he would be able to practice what Iwaizumi had taught him, not with his mom _right below him_.

“Tooru,” his mom called softly, knocking on his door. “Can I come in?”

“I guess.”

She walked in and sat next to him on his bed, running her fingers through his hair. “I’ve got someone for you to meet.”

His head shot up off of his pillow. “What do you mean?”

“It’s someone who can teach you magic. He’ll be coming over once a week to teach you.” His mom smiled. “After he thinks you’re ready, you’ll be able to come with me on my trips into town.”

“Really?” he asked breathlessly excited. “You promise?”

“I promise. Now come meet him.”

She led Oikawa downstairs and introduced him to her friend. Oikawa couldn’t manage to remember his name or keep the excitement he had had just a few seconds earlier. He was too distracted by how _off_ the man felt. Like there was something he was hiding. And he kept him _busy_ for weeks. Oikawa felt like he barely had enough time to breathe with everything he had to do. He certainly didn’t have enough time to visit Iwaizumi in all that time. Not to mention that it was much harder than he had thought learning from a teacher other than Iwaizumi.

All in all, it was basically hell.

He was glad when his mom left for the town and his teacher hadn’t yet given him permission to leave. He would still have to have his lesson at the normal time, but at least he would be alone for a few days before an after.

“It’s… been a while,” Iwaizumi said in surprise, sitting down across from Oikawa.

Oikawa looked down. “Almost six months. I’m sorry, Iwa-chan, but I couldn’t get away from my mom or my teacher-”

“Your teacher?”

 

“One of mom’s friends. He comes once a week to teach me magic.” Oikawa hesitated, not sure if he should tell Iwaizumi about the weird aura the man had, but Iwaizumi seemed content to wait until he finished. “I don’t like him. You told me to trust my instincts and I _don’t_ trust him.”

“What about him?” Iwaizumi asked, instantly more attentive. Oikawa didn’t respond immediately, just because he thought that just having a _feeling_ wasn’t enough to base a judgement on. “Tooru, _what about him_?”

“It just makes me feel uncomfortable being around him. And he’s always really strict about everything, even stuff you’ve said I mastered, he says it’s still not good enough.”

“I wish I could help you,” Iwaizumi sighed, resting his fingertips gently on the glass near the bottom of the mirror.

“You have been!” Oikawa protested. “You’ve been teaching me magic for so long and… well, you’re my only friend, really.”

“I’ve been using you, Tooru,” Iwaizumi snapped, “I’ve been using you all these years-”

“Do you think I don’t know my mom knows you’re here?” Oikawa asked. “I’ve figured out by now that there’s no way she doesn’t know about you. I don’t have to come back to you each time, but I do. I do because I made a _promise_ and I intend to keep that promise. I don’t know why mom won’t let you go, and I don’t really care. If she won’t do it, I will.”

“You’re so trusting, aren’t you,” Iwaizumi said quietly.

“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa started, but Iwaizumi cut him off.

“I probably do deserve to be here. It’s selfish of me to want to leave,” he continued. “It’s selfish of me to ask you to let me out.”

“What do you mean?”

Iwaizumi sighed. “You’ll hate me if I tell you.”

“I won’t,” Oikawa said, shaking his head.

“You don’t know that.”

“You don’t know either.”

“ _Yes_ , I…” Iwaizumi trailed off with a frustrated sigh. “You know what, forget I said anything.”

“Iwa-chan, no,” Oikawa said, leaning forward so his face was nearly touching the glass of the mirror. “You can’t just… say something like that and not tell me. What were you going to say?”

“Forget it.”

“No,” Oikawa said, voice nearly loud enough to be yelling, “Answer me!”

Iwaizumi recoiled almost instantly, hands up in a protective position, head down and curled into himself. “Please don’t,” he whimpered. “Please don’t hurt me.” It was the first time Oikawa had seen Iwaizumi _scared_ and he drew back in surprise.

“I-Iwa-chan?” Oikawa called softly. “I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. I’m sorry.”

The way Iwaizumi raised his head timidly and asked “Promise?” with eyes brimming with tears nearly broke Oikawa’s heart.

“Yes, of course, I’m _sorry_. I didn’t… I don’t… I-I’m sorry.”

Iwaizumi took a shuddering breath and closed his eyes for a second before loosening his posture once more. He looked relaxed, but Oikawa could tell that he was still tense. If he could, Oikawa was sure Iwaizumi would have run away. “It’s not your fault. I just… wasn’t expecting it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your mother’s possessed by a demon,” Iwaizumi said after a long pause.

Oikawa stopped. Everything stopped, really. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He wasn’t even sure if he was blinking. “What?” he asked, not because he needed to hear again but because he couldn’t possibly comprehend what Iwaizumi had said.

“Your mother-”

“I heard you,” Oikawa unintentionally snapped, cutting him off. “For how long?”

“How old are you now?”

“Fifteen.”

“Then it’s been thirteen years. Since the night your father died. For just a few minutes longer than I’ve been stuck in here,” Iwaizumi explained. “She, well, it wanted to remove me as a threat. The only reason I’m still alive is because I haven’t given away the names of my teammates. And, I think, because the demon enjoys my suffering. She… it… the demon keeps trying to force me to tell it. If you do anything to any part of the mirror, it directly affects me and the demon likes to come up with… creative things to do. Before it does anything, though, it always yells ‘Answer me!’ and… well, it does it with your mother’s face and you look like her and usually when it’s her I expect it, but I wasn’t expecting it from you and I overreacted and-”

“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa said softly. “I don’t blame you and I’m sorry I made you think I was going to hurt you.”

Iwaizumi took a deep breath. “There’s one other thing, Tooru. Well, there’s a lot of things I haven’t told you, but this one is the most important.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about your father. The night he died, we were fighting a losing battle for a while. I was on my own and I couldn’t use magic before I found my teammates. We found your father and it looked like we were going to win, but he had been possessed. One of my teammates tried to banish it, but the spell took too long and the demon summoned other monsters and it was going to kill my teammates. I still couldn’t use magic and it had beaten me in a fight and I couldn’t shift into a dragon and I did the only thing I could to save my friends. I… I killed him.”

Oikawa stopped for the second time that day. “You killed my dad?” Iwaizumi nodded and Oikawa’s gaze hardened. “You were right,” he said venomously. “You do deserve to be stuck in there.” Oikawa stood up. 

“Tooru, please-”

He didn’t bother looking back when he walked out the door.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look at that, two updates pretty close together. proud of myself.
> 
> also, iwaizumi, being half-dragon/a dragon shifter, can speak draconic. he doesn't usually, but sometimes he likes to be Extra and say things in draconic (kothar means demon)

Iwaizumi wanted to cry. He nearly did, actually. It was a close call when he was in front of Tooru, but he managed to keep it in. But now… now if he cried, he felt like it was more justifiable. All of his hope, _all of it_ was gone. Walked out of the door right along with Tooru. So now he was alone. For the first time in a long time, he was completely alone. Tooru had left him and he was alone.

He wasn’t sure before now if he could cry in the darkness. As it turns out, he could.

Iwaizumi held his face in his hands and sobbed. He cried so hard his chest hurt and it left him feeling hollow and empty. Or maybe that was from Tooru leaving him. He hadn’t stopped to ever let himself feel anything since the night Oikawa-san had died and it was all catching up to him at once. His grief from the death, the hopelessness he had felt at first, the terror and fear, every time he wanted to just give up, the crushing feeling of having hope and losing it, losing _Tooru_ , everything.

Every time he thought he was done crying, he would start again. In the darkness, he had no way to know how long he had cried for, but he knew that it was longer than he ever had before. He only stopped when the darkness was interrupted by the light that signified a visitor. Stupidly, he hoped it was Tooru. It wasn’t, but it also wasn’t _just_ Yuki.

“You aren’t even going to bother standing up?”

He shrugged, leaning back until he was laying down. “Why bother?”

“You’re in a mood today,” she commented, walking closer so she could still see Iwaizumi’s face.

“Yeah, it’s almost like I always have a mood. Kinda like it’s a part of being human.”

“You’re not human, though.”

“I’m more human than you, aren’t I?” he replied and instantly regretted his words. He _really_ should think before he speaks. “ _Kothar._ Who’s your friend?”

“So you finally remember,” she hummed, then stepped aside so the man next to her could come into Iwaizumi’s view. “His name doesn’t matter. He’s just here to help make sure you’re behaving.”

“You mean he’s gonna torture me, too?”

“He happens to know a lot about dragon shifters. It’s hard to find people these days that know much. I’m sure you’ll fully appreciate the time he’s taken to truly learn about your kind.”

“I’m sure,” Iwaizumi repeated sarcastically.

“I think that attitude needs a little bit of adjustment,” the man said. His voice was smooth and the sound of it made Iwaizumi want to relax, even though he knew rationally that he shouldn’t. “I know just the thing to help with that.”

\--

Oikawa practically threw himself into his lessons, practicing everything almost nonstop until his teacher deemed him adequate enough at one task and moved onto the next. His mom was proud of how hard he was working. 

Iwaizumi would tell him not to work so hard, but Iwaizumi was _out of the picture_.

He still couldn’t remember the name of his teacher, but he didn’t really care anymore. All he really cared about anymore was getting better. (Though, if he stopped to think about it, which he never did, he knew that he didn’t even really care about that.)

Oikawa knew his magic would run out eventually if he kept up this pace, but when that happened, he would pass out and he wouldn’t have to think anymore. So he was fine with that. And it wasn’t like it took a short time for him to run out. He’d been practicing nearly nonstop for at least a month and he barely felt anything. He barely slept anymore. Since he’d walked away from Iwaizumi, his dreams were plagued with visions of people he didn’t know with someone he could guess was his father. He wasn’t sure why he was seeing his father now of all times, or what the visions meant, and he hated waking up after the dreams feeling like he needed to do something.

He was almost sure it had something to do with Iwaizumi, but he wasn’t willing to find out.

“Is everything alright, sweetie?” his mom asked, startling him out of his thoughts. He set the book he was studying from down onto his desk.

“I’m fine, mom,” he said, smiling up at her. _There’s no way she’s a demon_. “I’m just thinking.”

“What are you thinking about?”

Oikawa bit his lip. His dad was definitely a touchy subject to his mom, but she _did_ ask. “I’ve just been having dreams about dad recently. Or, I think it’s dad.”

“Strange,” she hummed, getting a far-away look in her eyes just like every other time Oikawa had brought up his dad. “I wonder why he would choose to appear to you now.”

“Do you think it’s really him?” he asked. “Like his ghost or something?”

“You know ghosts aren’t real, right?”

“I know,” he sighed, “I just _really_ feel like it’s him. Actually him.”

“Sometimes we see things as we want to see them, not how they actually are,” she said softly. “Don’t dwell on it too much. He’s gone and he’s not coming back in any form.”

Oikawa nodded sadly. “How… how did he die?” he asked, well aware that he’d never been given a real answer ever before.

“He was killed by his closest friends. They were being attacked one night and his friends used him as bait so they could get away.”

“Oh,” Oikawa said quietly. That didn’t match up with what Iwaizumi had said at all. Which meant one of them was lying.

“But you don’t have to worry about anything like that happening to you,” his mom continued almost cheerfully. “We’re completely safe here.” He barely mustered up a smile in response, but it seemed to be enough for her. “I’ll leave you to your work, then. Wouldn’t want to hinder your progress.”

“Right,” he said. “I love you, mom,” he called when she was almost all the way out the door. 

She made no move to show she had heard or cared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://draconic.twilightrealm.com/ - source of any draconic words


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no idea where this productivity is coming from, but let's enjoy it while it lasts

Learning a spell that made sleep basically unnecessary probably wasn’t the greatest idea. Oikawa hadn’t slept in a week and just because he stayed awake all the time didn’t mean he didn’t still need sleep. He was actually exhausted, but he refused to sleep.

“You’re getting sloppy, Oikawa,” his teacher commented. “Fix it.”

“Right,” he said, repeating the sequence of attacks. It was nowhere near his best run, but it was better than last time.

“Again,” came the command. “Again… Again… _Again_.”

Oikawa was breathing hard. He could feel that he was getting close to the end of his seemingly endless store of magic. “Let me guess,” he said before his teacher could say anything, “again?”

“Harder this time. I could kill you with barely any effort with how hard you’re trying. Maybe if you were actually _serious_ about learning magic, you would be better than pathetic.”

Oikawa would argue, but he knew from experience that it would get him nowhere. Instead, he growled and put the rest of his energy into attacking again. “Better?” he hissed.

“I’d be willing to call that attempt adequate,” his teacher replied, “but if you had to use that much energy just to be _adequate_ I really don’t think there’s much hope for you. I bet I could knock you down with only a small touch.” Oikawa wanted to argue with that, too, but when his teacher walked up to him and he couldn’t move from exhaustion, he supposed that maybe he had a point. “Just like this,” he said and tapped Oikawa’s forehead lightly. Oikawa collapsed instantly.

_”Tooru?”_

_Oikawa groaned and looked around. He was still in the living room with the furniture pushed to the side so he could practice, but his teacher was nowhere to be seen. And everything had a weird bluish tint. He pushed himself off of the ground and stood up._

_“Tooru can you hear me?”_

_He looked around. “Who’s talking? Who’s here?”_

_“What, you don’t remember me?” the voice said teasingly. “Turn around.”_

_Oikawa followed the instructions and as soon as he did, his hands flew up to his mouth in surprise. “It can’t be you,” he breathed. “You died. Mom said you died. Iwa-chan said he…”_

_“I can only be here for a little bit. The demons will notice and make me leave again if I’m here for too long,” his dad explained._

_Oikawa rushed forward and pulled him into a hug. “I don’t want you to go.”_

_“I know,” he said as he returned the hug. “I’m already bending the rules to be here, though. I can’t stay.”_

_“Please,” Oikawa whispered, burying his face in his dad’s chest, “don’t go.”_

_“I’ve got a lot to say first,” he said, tilting Oikawa’s face up, “but before any of that,_ any of it _, the most important thing for you to know is that I love you and I’m proud of you, okay?”_

_Oikawa nodded and wiped away the tears that were threatening to spill._

_“I need you to listen to me about the other things, okay? If you have questions I’ll answer them after I’m done if I’ve got time.” Oikawa nodded. “Iwaizumi did kill me, but it was his only option. I got possessed almost immediately that night and if Iwaizumi hadn’t killed me, the demon would have made me kill Hanamaki and Matsukawa while he watched and then killed him. The demon could stay in my body for a few minutes after I died and it used that time to scour my memories and teleport Iwaizumi and itself here, in this room. Your mother thought it was me coming home and the demon possessed her. I didn’t really see what happened after that, it dragged Iwaizumi out of the room and my spirit was bound here for a while. Now I can move throughout the house. I’ve seen you interacting with Iwaizumi, trying to help save him, so I haven’t stepped in. It’s a lot easier to fly under the noses of the demons that way. But since you stopped, I feel like I should interfere. I don’t blame Iwaizumi for what he did and I’d like it if you didn’t either. I know I can’t control you, but please consider making up with Iwaizumi. He doesn’t deserve what he’s gotten, no matter what he says.”_

_“Dad, I-”_

_“I’m not done yet,” he said softly. “Iwaizumi won’t tell you this because he doesn’t think you’ll believe him, but the demon in your mother took your memory of one night. You woke up and went downstairs and found her torturing Iwaizumi. That’s why he wanted you to look into memory magic. The last thing-” He looked away at something Oikawa must not have been able to see. “I have to go. Remember, I love you.”_

_“I love you, too,” Oikawa called as the scene was fading._

“Wake up,” his teacher snarled from above him, hand already on its way down to slap him awake.

“I’m awake,” he muttered, holding onto his now throbbing cheek. His teacher hauled him up by the collar of his shirt. “I’m awake and I’m done for today.”

“You’re done when I say you’re done,” he growled. “And you’re not leaving this room until I say you can.”

Oikawa should have expected that, yet somehow it was still a surprise. That didn’t mean he was going to listen, though. He twisted out of the grip and ran for the door only to have it close in his face. It wouldn’t budge when he tried it.

“You’re not leaving.”

“You can make me stay in here for however long you want, but you can’t make me train.”

“Sure I can, I’ll just be a lot _meaner_ when I do.”

Oikawa kept trying at the door, trying to open it with different spells he knew. The first fireball that flew by his face made him jump, nearly into its trajectory, but he managed to twist out of the way. “Are you trying to kill me?” he yelled, but refused to move away from the door.

“I’m just trying to help you improve. Either fight back or get hurt.”

Oikawa threw up a basic shield and turned his attention back to the door. Every time the shield weakened, he threw up another one behind it for when it broke. He managed, after a while of being under fire, to get the door open, only to find that there was some sort of forcefield at the edge of the room that prevented him from leaving.

“I told you, you’re not leaving until I say you can.”

Oikawa ignored him and started trying to find a way around the barrier. Absently, he realized that this must have been what his dad had felt. He glanced back at his teacher, still furiously attacking him. Iwaizumi had taught him a way to break through barriers like this, but he had never been able to practice it before and his teacher didn’t know that he knew how.

His mom walked by and he could have cried with relief. “Mom-!”

“Tooru? What’s going on here?”

He opened his mouth to reply, but his teacher beat him to it. “He’s been slacking off, so I decided to try a different method.”

“That’s not-”

“I thought you wanted to get better, Tooru. If Hisakawa-san thinks this is the best way, shouldn’t you be listening to him?”

“Mom, please listen-”

“Do you want to be stuck here forever? I’m willing to revoke your rights to go outside if you keep this up. Go back to your lesson.”

Oikawa hung his head and turned away from the doorway. The lesson after that was by far the worst he had ever had. When he went back up to his room, he was covered in scrapes and bruises and burns. He healed what he could, but he really didn’t know much healing magic yet. He didn’t sleep that night in part because he couldn’t get comfortable, but also because he was afraid. His dad had confirmed what Iwaizumi said and even beyond that, his mom was confirming it even more. She was possessed. Oikawa shuddered, watching his door. He didn’t move all night, only sat on his bed and stared.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when there was a knock on the door and his mom walked in.

“Something came up and I’ve gotta go into town now,” she said softly. “It should only be a few days, but I’m not sure. You know the rules while I’m gone, right?” Oikawa nodded silently. “I’ll see you when I get back, then. You won’t have any lessons while I’m gone, but don’t neglect your training.”

“Okay,” Oikawa said quietly. “See you.”

His mom walked out and he listened to make sure she was out of the house before getting up and leaving his room. He took a deep breath before entering the storage room. The mirror hadn’t been moved since he was last here. He ran his fingers along the gold frame and waited.

“Iwa-chan,” he breathed when he finally saw him, doing his best to ignore the feeling in his chest.

“Tooru?” Iwaizumi said, disbelief clear in his voice. “ _You came back_.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aha sorry this chapter is shorter than the past few have been, but we're finally _right_ next to the end, so the last chapter should be pretty big

“What happened to you? When was the last time you slept? Are you okay?” Iwaizumi asked worriedly.

Oikawa looked down at himself, remembering that he still looked like shit from the day before. “Well,” Oikawa started before shaking his head, “No, wait, listen. We need to talk first.”

“But are you _okay_?” Iwaizumi repeated.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. But listen, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted like I did. You _don’t_ deserve this. I promise, you don’t. And I’m sorry it took me so long to come back and say it. I know you didn’t have a choice. My dad said-”

“What do you mean?” Iwaizumi interrupted him.

“Oh, yesterday I passed out in the middle of my magic lesson and I talked to my dad,” Oikawa replied. “Anyway, he said-”

“Tooru, you shouldn’t be able to talk to your father. How did you?”

“Well, I’d been having dreams about him for a while, then I wasn’t but that was because I wasn’t sleeping at all because I found a spell, then when I passed out, he actually talked to me.”

Iwaizumi dragged his hand down his face. “As soon as we’re done with this, we’re talking about your questionable sleeping habits. How do you know it was really him?”

“You told me to trust my instincts. I know it was him. He said the demon threatened to make you watch it kill Han- I mean, your teammates.”

“He told you their names?” Oikawa nodded. “Okay, so it really was him, then. Quick question and it’s related, I swear. What does your teacher look like?”

“He’s tall, he has blond hair, a scar on his left cheek right here,” Oikawa pointed it out on himself.

“And you said you had a bad feeling about him when you met him?” Oikawa nodded. “And you just felt it was your dad?” He nodded again. “I wonder…”

“Iwa-chan, tell me what you’re thinking,” Oikawa whined in frustration. “I won’t know anything if you don’t tell me.”

“I think you’re a psychic. You show some of the signs, but I can’t really be sure yet. You could just be a really good judge of character. Maybe you’ve just got a better sense of danger than most people. I think your teacher is someone your mom brought in here to… meet me. The one thing I really can’t explain any other way, though, is how you could talk to your father. Humans can’t talk to the dead. But you _can_.”

“Does this mean I can read minds?” Oikawa asked, eyes shining.

“Not necessarily. I don’t know if you’re omniscient, but I guess it’s possible. My friend is and according to him it just happens, but I don’t know much about it.”

“Aw, okay,” Oikawa replied. “Oh that’s right! Dad says he doesn’t blame you for what you did and that you don’t deserve this, no matter what you say.”

“Tell him thank you if you ever talk to him again,” Iwaizumi said quietly after a long silence.

“I will.”

“Now tell me what happened to you, why do you look so beat up and tired? How long has it even been?”

“It’s been a few months. I’m sixteen now,” Oikawa said with a smile. “This was all mostly from yesterday. I passed out during my lesson - that’s when I talked to dad - and my teacher didn’t like that, so he woke me up by, uh, slapping me. Here,” he pointed to the bruise on his cheek. “And then I said I wanted to be done, but he didn’t like _that_ either and he trapped me in the room and started attacking me. And I was low on magic, because, y’know, I passed out once from that already, and I couldn’t really protect myself very well. And I also haven’t slept in like…” Oikawa tilted his head in thought, “maybe two weeks?”

“Tooru! You-You can’t do that to yourself!” Iwaizumi exclaimed. “You need rest!”

“I know, I know, I just… I couldn’t stand the dreams I was having. I saw my dad every night and it hurt.”

“You really should sleep, though. Go sleep now, we can talk later.”

“But-”

“ _Go_ ,” Iwaizumi said with more force. “We’ll talk tomorrow, yeah?”

“Okay,” Oikawa sighed, “Tomorrow.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can anyone believe i actually finished a fic?
> 
> i just wanna say thank you to everyone who commented (especially everyone that commented on multiple chapters like bless you) or left kudos
> 
> i really want to write a sequel to this honestly but lmao i gotta finish my other projects first

It was pure luck that Oikawa woke up when he did. He got out of bed with a feeling of dread sitting in the pit of his stomach. He had no idea how long he had slept for, but he seemed to have regained all of his energy. Oikawa didn’t really know what to do with the feeling he had, so he made his way downstairs hoping he would be able to figure it out.

Oikawa’s hair moved in the wind created from the front door slamming open and his mom flying past him and slamming into the wall. His mind caught up a second later.

“Mom! Are you okay?” he asked as he moved to help her up.

She waved him away. “Don’t just stand there, _we’re under attack_. Fight back.”

“I don’t-” he started nervously, but he didn’t have any time to protest anything when the door was slammed open once more. Two men barged in with weapons drawn.

“We know you have him,” one of them growled, “where is he?”

Oikawa’s mom stood up and walked calmly towards them. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but surely attacking me isn’t the right course of action,” she said, and her voice felt like the calm before a storm. “Certainly not in my own home.”

Truth be told, Oikawa saw his chance and took it. He ran. The only place he could really run, though, was back up the stairs. He was just barely more than halfway up the stairs when he heard footsteps following him. There wasn’t time to look back and see which one had followed him. He ran back into his room, slamming the door shut and locking it with a seal when he got there, eyes darting around for a place to hide. He ran to the window and pushed it open before climbing into his closet and closing the door almost all the way with only a crack so he could see out. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself before opening his eyes and undoing the seal on the door. Hopefully the man chasing him would think that he had jumped out the window and ran.

The door practically flew off its hinges when it was kicked open. Oikawa kept as still and silent as possible. The man looked around the room and walked to the window. He looked out before turning around and walking straight towards the closet. Oikawa blew open the door with a strong gust of wind, strong enough to knock the man down and ran out into the hallway again. 

The other man and his mom weren’t in their entryway anymore, but as long as Oikawa didn’t run into them, he didn’t care where they were. He practically flew to the storage room and slammed the door shut when he got there, putting the strongest seal he knew around the entire room and creating multiple layers of shields around the room so that even if someone broke through the first one, they would still have nine more to get through before they could reach him. Hopefully it would be enough. He dragged Iwaizumi’s mirror into the center of the room so the shields would be on all sides.

“I need you to teach me the spell to release you,” Oikawa said as soon as he could see Iwaizumi. “Now.”

“What’s going on? You can’t-”

“There’s people attacking the house. I can’t really carry a mirror I’m not supposed to know about into the forest _and_ defend myself. I don’t know what they want, but I’m not just gonna leave you here. I’m obviously not trusting my mom with you. I can do it, just tell me how.”

Iwaizumi stared at Oikawa for a long time. Long enough for Oikawa to start fidgeting impatiently. He could feel someone working on the first seal, but the door wasn’t open yet, so they still had time. “Fine.”

Oikawa followed the instructions Iwaizumi was giving him to the letter, not willing to let his focus waver for even half a second. At some point the seal on the door was broken, but Oikawa didn’t even look up. Not that he could have seen anything with Iwaizumi’s mirror in the way anyway. The second shield was broken when he was nearly halfway done, but the third one broke soon after. Oikawa added a muting spell to the shield around them so that no sound could pass through it.

By the time the seventh shield broke, he was about three-fourths of the way done. He added a curtain to the shield around them so that whoever was attacking couldn’t see in.

When the ninth shield broke, he wasn’t sure he would make it. It took a lot of his energy to keep so many shields up so he was slower than he should have been finishing the spell.

“The last thing you’ve gotta add is a few drops of your own blood.”

Oikawa shakily nodded. He winced as he cut into his hand, but it wasn’t the worst he’d had.

“Let it drip onto the spell circle you drew. Then put your hand down onto it after 5 drops and put all of your focus into the word undo.”

He did as he was told, but it didn’t seem to be enough. It was risky, but he didn’t have much a choice anymore. Iwaizumi’d warned him that if he stopped at any point, there was a good chance that neither of them would live. He dropped the final shield and put all of his energy into the spell. 

Something changed. Oikawa felt it. It was the end of the spell. He looked up just in time to watch the mirror _shatter_. Shards of glass hit his face as he sat on the floor in silence. The man that had been attacking him was standing there, staring at him.

“It… didn’t work,” Oikawa said quietly. “How? I… I did everything right. It should have worked.”

He felt wind whip around his hair, but he didn’t care, didn’t stop to think about how that shouldn’t have been happening. The man was talking, yelling maybe, but it sounded distorted and quiet to Oikawa.

“It should have worked,” Oikawa repeated, louder this time.

His eyes were closed, but he didn’t actually know it. He didn’t feel the sting of the shards of glass whipping around him. He wasn’t feeling anything anymore. Only the pain of losing Iwaizumi, for good this time, was registering.

“It should have worked, dammit!” he yelled, unconsciously pushing even more into the spell circle. His eyes snapped open to see the glass shards converge and break away once more. Oikawa barely had time to shield his eyes.

“Tooru?”

Oikawa moved his hand away to see Iwaizumi standing there in torn and tattered clothes, but he was real and three dimensional and _alive_. He took a step forward and started to fall, but Oikawa quickly moved himself underneath Iwaizumi to cushion his fall. He pulled Iwaizumi into a rough hug, for a second worried that Iwaizumi didn’t like physical affection. His worries were immediately erased when Iwaizumi held onto him even tighter.

“You did it,” Iwaizumi whispered. “You’re amazing.”

“I couldn’t have had a better teacher.”

“Iwaizumi?” Oikawa tightened his hold on Iwaizumi minutely as he turned his head. “It’s really you.”

“Wait…” Iwaizumi squinted. “Mattsun?”

“You mean Matsukawa?” Oikawa asked. “Like one of your friends?”

Iwaizumi nodded, smiling widely and reaching out to Matsukawa. “‘Course, he’s a lot older than I remember.”

“Sorry for attacking you,” Matsukawa said as he accepted Iwaizumi’s offer and wrapped him up in a hug, making sure to ruffle Iwaizumi’s hair in the process. “Honest mistake. Makki and I didn’t know which one of you were possessed.”

“Where’s Makki?”

“Still fighting. I’ve gotta go help him, you two just stay here.”

“I can-”

“No,” Oikawa and Matsukawa said in unison.

“You’re not going near that demon ever again.”

“You’re in no condition to fight.”

“I can still-”

“I’m not letting go of you, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa said with finality. “I know it’s like no time passed for you, but they’ve had like 14 more years of experience than you.”

Iwaizumi sighed, letting himself sink into Oikawa’s arms. “Fine, but if it’s too long, I’m going out to help.”

“Fair enough. We shouldn’t be long so it won’t be a problem,” Matsukawa relented. “Be back soon.”

Matsukawa ducked out the door and Iwaizumi turned back to Oikawa. “You’re bleeding.” Oikawa looked down at himself, only just now realizing the state he was in. “Let me take care of it.”

“How-” Oikawa’s question was cut off by Iwaizumi running his fingers along Oikawa’s arms, healing all the small cuts as he went. “You can do that? Use healing on other people?”

“No one’s ever healed you before?” Iwaizumi asked. Oikawa shook his head. “Weird.”

They sat on the floor for a bit, simply holding onto each other. It was so surreal for Oikawa to finally be able to touch Iwaizumi; he couldn't even imagine what it felt like for Iwaizumi to be able to touch anything.

Of course, the calm moment didn’t last. Matsukawa was thrown through the open door and, though he managed to land on his feet, he didn’t look like he was doing well. Someone else, Oikawa was fairly certain it was Hanamaki, was thrown through a second later. Matsukawa caught him and placed him on his feet again.

“Iwaizumi, _do not_ get involved with this fight,” Matsukawa said sternly as he and Hanamaki dropped down into defensive positions.

“I can-”

“You can’t. You don’t understand what you’re up against. This demon is one of the worst we’ve seen before. It’s stronger than we thought. I’m not even sure we can banish it at this point.”

Iwaizumi started trying to stand up, but in his weakened state, he barely could. Oikawa thought about keeping him down and denying him the fight again, but quickly dismissed that thought and instead helped him stand. He’d never tried healing anyone else before, but he figured it wouldn’t be so hard and gave it a shot. It didn’t take long before Iwaizumi was able to stand on his own, though Oikawa still wasn’t going to let go of him.

“I think we understand more than you two,” Oikawa said. “I had to live with it for _years_.”

Iwaizumi chimed in too, but all of a sudden, Oikawa couldn’t hear. He could see Iwaizumi’s lips moving, then Matsukawa’s when he responded, but there was no sound. He felt Hanamaki’s eyes on him before he was saying something and Iwaizumi was taking steps away from him. He fell to the floor without Iwaizumi’s support. His hands twitched, but that was the most he could manage.

All of the air in his lungs left, but he couldn’t manage to draw a breath in. Iwaizumi was kneeling in front of him now. His hand was on Oikawa’s cheek but he couldn’t feel it. Oikawa distantly recognized flashes coming from behind Iwaizumi, but he couldn’t focus on anything but Iwaizumi’s face.

His vision blurred for a second before refocusing. When it did, he could see a small dragon curled around Iwaizumi’s forearm. It stared at him before crawling down and scratching him.

Everything came back all at once. He could breathe again, hear again, move again. The dragon was gone.

“Tooru, are you alright?” Oikawa nodded and Iwaizumi dropped his head to press their foreheads together. “I thought I was going to lose you,” he breathed out.

"What happened?"

“The demon that was possessing your mother tried to possess you too. It didn’t work, but you had a really bad reaction to it and you nearly died.”

“Oh,” Oikawa said quietly. “So what about the demon?”

“I managed to banish it while it was busy trying to stay alive in you. There’s one more, but you can rest for now. Makki and Mattsun are taking care of it and they’ve almost banished it already.”

Iwaizumi started to stand up, but Oikawa stopped him. “Don’t leave me?” he asked quietly. “Please.” Iwaizumi smiled and sat back down on the floor, pulling Oikawa’s head into his lap. He used one hand to run his fingers through Oikawa’s hair and the other to play with one of Oikawa’s hands.

“I can’t believe you did it,” he said in wonder. “You actually did it.”

Oikawa gazed up at him. “Anything for you, Iwa-chan.”

Iwaizumi laughed, “Don’t say that, you never know what I might ask.”

He shrugged. “I’d still do it anyway.”

Iwaizumi’s smile grew as he shook his head.

“Are you two alright?”

Iwaizumi looked up and nodded. “How about you two?”

Hanamaki shrugged and rolled his shoulders. “Been better, been worse. It’s good to see you, Iwaizumi.”

Oikawa sat up so that Iwaizumi could stand and allow himself to be pulled into a hug by Hanamaki. Matsukawa joined in, too. Iwaizumi looked small and squished between the two of them, but he managed to work one arm free to make grabbing motions in Oikawa’s direction. Oikawa wasted no time in getting up and joining in, powerless to resist the look of complete and utter _happiness_ on Iwaizumi’s face.

He felt something vibrating against his chest and smiled. “Iwa-chan, are you purring?”

“N-no,” he stuttered, “Maybe. Shut up, I’m just really happy.”

“You know,” Matsukawa started, “I’ve done a lot of research on dragon shifters and I learned that purring means-”

Iwaizumi’s face held no trace of regret as he stomped down on Matsukawa’s foot. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Aww, are you embarrassed, _Iwa-chan_?” Hanamaki teased.

“You two are like parents who love to embarrass their children,” Iwaizumi grumbled.

Oikawa gasped. “Speaking of parents, where’s my mom? She’s not possessed anymore, right?”

“She’s passed out in the living room on the floor, but-”

Oikawa didn’t let Hanamaki finish before breaking away and running out of the room. His mom was where he had said, but she had woken up.

“Mom?” he said quietly.

“Tooru? Tooru, sweetie, are you okay?” she asked, running up to him and hugging him so tightly it hurt.

“I’m-I’m okay. I’m fine. What about you?”

“I’m, well, I’m alive. And for now, that’s what matters.”

He smiled, “Right.”

“I love you, Tooru.”

“I love you too.”

She let go of him suddenly and dropped into a low bow. Oikawa turned around to see that Iwaizumi, Hanamaki, and Matsukawa had followed him. “Please,” she said, her voice shaky, “I know that I can never make any of what I did right, but please understand that I am very sorry. If I can do anything at all for you, Iwaizumi-san, let me know.”

Iwaizumi looked like he wanted to run, but the presence of Hanamaki and Matsukawa behind him kept him in place.

“You were possessed. You couldn’t control any of what you did. I understand that,” Iwaizumi said, loudly and almost certainly with fake confidence. “I wouldn’t hold you accountable for any of that just like I don’t hold Oikawa-san accountable. It was the demon and that’s the end of it.”

“Still, if there’s anything I can do for you…”

“We’ll let you know,” Hanamaki said, answering for Iwaizumi. “For now, though, we should get Iwaizumi back. Let people know he’s alive and well.”

“Of course,” Oikawa’s mom nodded.

“If you’d like to accompany us into town, I can personally introduce you to a person that can help you through the after-effects of possession.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I’d prefer to stay here for now. Tooru should go with you, though.”

“Really? I can?” Oikawa asked, eyes shining.

“As long as it’s okay with them.”

“Of course!” Iwaizumi said.

Oikawa ran over to Iwaizumi and picked him up in a hug, close to tears. “Come on, come help me pack a bag,” he said, pulling Iwaizumi along behind him by the wrist. “I can’t wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked the ending! There were a few times I almost made this end... frustratingly for readers (ie oikawa succeeding in freeing iwaizumi, then iwaizumi looking up at oikawa and saying "who are you?" and then end it) but i went with probably the happiest ending i could make. also i almost killed oikawa's mom near the end but oikawa deserves to be happy after all this
> 
> also, what matsukawa was going to say before iwaizumi _so rudely_ cut him off was that basically purring means iwa's got a crush on someone
> 
> also the little dragon on iwaizumi's arm that oikawa sees is basically the spirit of his draconic magic (if that makes sense lmao) and whenever he uses magic, the dragon is involved. oikawa can see it for basically the same reason he could see his dad - he's psychic and wasn't quite fully conscious


End file.
